April 2, 2026

As the crowd gathered at City Winery in Manhattan on Monday night for the 33rd annual Downtown Seder hosted by entrepreneur Michael Dorf, one performer was notably absent.

Comedian Modi Rosenfeld, an Israeli-American observant Jew, announced just ahead of the event that he would not be attending or performing after learning that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani would be in attendance. In a message on his social media, Rosenfeld’s team said the comedian was not aware that Mamdani would be at the event until Monday.

“We were not told Mamdani was participating in this event until today,” the message read. “Modi will no longer be attending.”

Mamdani ultimately attended the event and delivered remarks that Dorf later described as “a heartfelt message.”

 

In the great tradition of New York's finest communal awkwardness, the 33rd annual Downtown Seder turned into a political dodging dance when comedian Modi Rosenfeld skipped town faster than you can say “no press release” after discovering Mayor Zohran Mamdani was crashing the party. Apparently, the big surprise wasn’t the matzo or the brisket, but the mayor’s surprise attendance, which was apparently kept under wraps as carefully as the last chicken in the coop. Meanwhile, Mamdani got to deliver what was charmingly dubbed a “heartfelt message,” presumably without a single heckle or awkward mic drop from the absent comic. And for soundtracking the emotional rollercoaster, Israeli musician David Broza brought everyone together with “If I Had a Hammer”—a song that surely struck a chord about unity, or maybe just pointed out the only tool anyone seemed to have on hand to fix this delicately awkward tableau. Nothing says “freedom” quite like a potent mix of political intrigue, carefully omitted guest lists, and musical metaphors at your local winery.

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